Month: February 2016

Last night I made my second visit to LYFE Kitchen in the Chisca. The first time I went, I got a little bit too adventurous and ordered a kale Caesar salad with tofu. It wasn’t bad, but it was just not the type of food I eat. For my second visit, I was determined to have a dead animal on my plate.

That animal was a chicken… Art’s Unfried Chicken, one of LYFE’s signature dishes. It was a generous portion of white meat chicken, tender and juicy, with breading but not fried breading. It came with a side of mixed vegetables, most notably Brussels sprouts. It was very tasty. I have found my fit at LYFE Kitchen. This is a dish I would go back to get again.

The Grizzlies are having a one-day-only Leap Day sale, where you can grab some discounts on tickets for the rest of the season.

I’m on the Downtown Memphis Commission’s mailing list for Downtown permits that are granted, and so I have learned there will be a “Free the First” rally tomorrow afternoon in Court Square from 1:00 to 3:30. The purpose of the rally, the permit application said, is “to raise awareness to the public.” I hope they do a good job, because I am totally unaware of the reason for this rally.

The South Main Association will have its monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 9 at 6 PM. The meeting will be at Facing History and Ourselves, 115 Huling, and the director of the Memphis office will give a presentation. Complimentary appetizers and beverages. Free for SMA members, $10 for non-members.

That’s it, short post today… I’ll most likely be at Melissa Monday at Bardog 5:30ish. Possibly another post before I go out.

Yesterday morning I led off at Bardog for Panda Time (Saturday brunch) as usual. Numerous groups had to be turned away because they had kids with them; for those not familiar with the law, bars and restaurants have to be 21+ if they allow smoking, which Bardog does. They always recommend sibling restaurant Aldo’s Pizza Pies around the corner to groups that have people too young to be at Bardog. That’s an excellent suggestion and I will add a few more: Irish pub the Brass Door, beer garden the Flying Saucer, Canadian-themed restaurant Kooky Canuck, perennial burger award winner Huey’s, South Main neighborhood bar the Green Beetle, and the downstairs of saloon and steakhouse Double J.

I had several hard-core right-wing Republicans read my endorsement of Bernie Sanders yesterday and tell me, “Paul, it kills me to admit this, but your story of the smart kid who grew up in a bad part of town deserving the same opportunities as you… I find it awfully hard to disagree with that.” Cheers to my intelligent, well-spoken Republican friends. We may not pull the same lever in the voting booth but we both want what’s best for our country. I’m friends with many Republicans who post their political views on Facebook and I appreciate and respect your opinion, even if I don’t agree with it.

Unfortunately not all Republicans are intelligent and well-spoken. Pat Robertson, who by the way has endorsed Donald Trump, has proclaimed that people shouldn’t practice yoga because it will lead to them speaking Hindu. Never mind that Hindu is not a language. Stretchy exercises are cool, Robertson says, but chanting “Hindu” words is not cool because it can lead people away from the Christian faith. The sad thing is, there’s 12-13% of the population that will blindly believe everything Robertson says and fall off the cliff like lemmings. If you read the linked article and find any validity to Robertson’s claims, I have three words for you: YOU ARE STUPID. End of story.

Yesterday afternoon I was hanging out with my friends Tony and B-RAD at the Blind Bear. They wanted to go to South of Beale to visit former Bear brunch bartender Kaylea at her current job. I am always up for some Kaylea harassment so I came along. I was hungry so I got their hot dog special of the day with gator sausage.

I cannot describe how good this thing was, and the fried onions on the side added to the flavor perfectly. South of Beale is a place that needs to be on my radar more often for food. I have never had a bad meal there.

Later in the evening I was back at the Bear, hanging out with former Saucer girls Brittney and Whitney:

Also at the Bear, I revived a four-year-old “you need to wear more tube tops” conversation with one of the regulars.

I didn’t get to see the game, but congrats to my Hogs on their 75-65 win over the Knoxville Predators (UT) last night.

Time to get this day started. D-RANKS with “vocal” B-RAD at Blind Bear is first on the agenda today, followed by a trip to see Suzy bartending at Bardog. Back tomorrow (or maybe later today, who knows) with more news.

Somewhere in South Memphis, or Frayser, or Whitehaven there is a 17-year old kid who is every bit as smart as I am. However, life for him is different than life was for me at that age. He lives in a house with his brothers and sisters, supported by their mom who makes $13,500 a year at her two part-time jobs. The family constantly worries about getting so far behind on their utility bills that MLGW will cut power. He never met his dad, who left his mother 5 months before he was born.

A year from now he will graduate high school and it will be time to get a job and build a life of his own. Stocking the shelves at Save-a-Lot is an option, as is working the cash register at Taco Bell. If he works hard he might get promoted to assistant manager at either place, and eventually out-earn his mother by a few thousand a year.

Of course, there is a route to making the big money: Join a gang. Someone with his intelligence would be highly valued by a group like the Vice Lords. Of course, he would be expected to commit crimes, which could lead to him spending most of his life in prison. Worse, he could be shot and killed by a rival gang.

Getting a four-year liberal arts education after high school is not in the realm of possibility for this kid – not just because he can’t afford it, but because he has never been told that is an option for him; he can’t even conceive of such a thing. The owner of the rib shack around the corner from him dropped out of community college after a semester, but that is as much as he knows about college.

He can’t imagine getting a master’s degree. He can’t imagine being a graduate assistant teaching college classes, and then going on to teach college full-time for five years. He can’t imagine working for a company that builds rebate websites for companies like Coleman and Panasonic. He can’t imagine being a data engineer for a startup company that offers background checking services. He can’t imagine being a web developer supporting a card game played by millions.

I was able to achieve all those things because 1) I had the good fortune of being born into the middle class, and 2) from the time I was a little boy I was told I could – and should – be able to reach all of those goals.

Donald Trump may use “Make America great again” as his slogan, but you know what? Until that kid growing up in poverty has the same opportunities that I had, America is not as great as it should be. It is not living up to its potential.

When I was 15, I got kidney stones. Let me tell you, they hurt like hell. The pain has been compared to that of giving birth, and I believe it. Thank goodness I was covered by my mother’s insurance, and I was able to go to the emergency room and get drugs to dull the pain, and then the treatment I needed to pass the stones. I hope I never get kidney stones again, but if I do, my company has an excellent benefits package that will take care of me.

If the kid in the bad part of town gets kidney stones, what will happen? Maybe his mother will take him to The MED and face a mountain of medical bills she can’t pay. Maybe the kid won’t go to the hospital at all, and suffer in silence. Maybe his family can scrape together enough money to buy him a bag of weed to smoke to lessen the pain.

No. That is not true. My tax rate would actually drop. If one day my income soars to $10 million a year, yes, I would be taxed at 50 percent. But the thing is, if I made that much money, I would feel a responsibility to help those who weren’t given the breaks I have been given in life.

Perhaps the most important responsibility that a president of the United States has is to appoint Supreme Court justices. Justices do not have a term; they serve for life, or until they decide to step down. Therefore a president can have a huge effect on public policy for decades after he or she leaves office. For the past 40 years the court has leaned conservative. As many as four justices could retire during the next president’s first term, offering him or her to re-shape the court. I would like to see justices in the mold of John Paul Stevens, Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren, and Harry Blackmun. Yes, I would like to see more women on the court. Yes, I would like to see more people of color on the court. But first and foremost I want people on the court who are staunch defenders of the individual’s rights.

For these reasons I support Bernie Sanders for president.

If you share the vision I do, I invite you to #FeelTheBern on Tuesday.

I woke up this morning to find a string of missed texts. Apparently someone had a hissy fit because I don’t respond immediately to texts at 1:40 in the morning. I don’t mention it on this blog much, but I have a hobby I to which I devote some time every day. It’s called “sleeping” and 1:40 AM is often a time spent in pursuit of my hobby.

Geez…

Yesterday I ranted about women who put their purse on the barstool next to them at crowded bars, selfishly denying those who come in after them a place to sit. Carbunkle Trumpet, a recent New York transplant from Memphis, had this to say: “Here in Gotham the bartenders either knock (the purses) off into the floor or tell the females they will charge them double for their drinks b/c they are taking up 2 spots. They don’t mess around up here. That’s why we love it up here.” Sounds like a great idea to me, one that I wish the bartenders at my favorite Downtown spots would start putting into action. Remember, more available barstools = more people to tip you.

Flight at the corner of Main and Monroe has announced that it will start serving Sunday brunch from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Menu items, in addition to traditional favorites, will include a flight of milk chocolate chip pancakes, French toast, and Belgian waffles and strawberries as well as options including farm fresh eggs such as Filet Mignon Benedict, confit of duck, and the French Quarter Scramble. Among the beverage options will be the Flight Bloody Mary, iced tea with lemon sorbet and Tennessee Coffee. There will be brunch starters and a raw bar as well.

Evelyn and Olive has announced a change to its weekend hours. Starting next weekend the hours will be 11 AM-10 PM Fridays and 4 PM-10 PM Saturdays.

There will be a burlesque show at Earnestine & Hazel’s at 8:30 tonight. I have heard these are a lot of fun and my next-door neighbor is one of the performers. It’s 21 and up with a $10 admission, $20 VIP.

Attorneys and sports agents are said to be astonished at the golden handshake in Josh Pastner’s contract with the University of Memphis. If the university fires Coach P, they will almost certainly have to pay him the full amount remaining, over ten million dollars, whether or not he decides to seek other employment. Agents commented that they would love to get that deal for their client coaches, but most schools won’t even hear of it. The reason for the golden handshake is said to be because in 2013 when Memphis made the round of 32, AD Tom Bowen was told after the NCAA tournament that a Power Five school wanted to talk to Josh. President Shirley Raines told Bowen to do whatever was necessary to go ahead and lock Pastner down. New U of M president David Rudd is not a fan of golden handshakes and let Bowen know there will be no more of them in the future.

The director of development of Roots Memphis Farm Academy, an organization that trains and launches new farmers in the Mid-South, has been reading my blog and knows what a big fan of fresh produce I am. She emailed to tell me that Roots Memphis has a CSA of its own – Community Supported Agriculture, the subscription service where you sign up, pay a fee, and then get locally-grown vegetables delivered to a drop-off point near you once a week. 387 Pantry on South Main is a drop-off point for this CSA, very convenient for Downtowners. It is a 27-week CSA and pickup will be 4 to 7 PM on Wednesdays. Subscribers can pick from three different sizes depending on their vegetable consumption. Sign up here and if you use code 2016FRIEND, your first week of produce is on Roots. Here is the projected availability of crops for the CSA (click to view in larger size):

This week in Sports Illustrated, there will be an in-depth story on the alleged sexual assault/sexual discrimination culture in University of Tennessee athletics. The article quotes an attorney who was the UT’s general legal counsel from 1972 to 2008. “The university, in the last several years, has been more concerned with bad p.r. than about taking action to protect its students,” he said. Yes that’s how it sounds to me too. Athletic director Dave Hart needs to be careful not to let the door hit his ass on the way out, and head football coach Butch Jones should be right behind him.

Maybe we should start referring to the team as the Knoxville Predators. I see that a school where men treat women right, Arkansas, takes on the Predators in men’s basketball tonight at 6:30. It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

Moody Ques members: Save the date. We’re looking at Saturday, March 19 as the make-up date for our team mixer, our “MEAT & greet” if you will. As you remember, we had one scheduled for February 13, but we decided that having a team event on Valentine’s Day weekend was a bad idea (also it was too damn cold). March 19 is not a holiday (except in San Juan Capistrano, California where it is the day the swallows return). It’s not the date of the Beale Street St. Patrick’s Day parade, which will be March 12 (reminds me, I need to blog about that). It’s still early in the year and won’t conflict with spring festival season. The date is not set in stone yet, but it’s looking like an option.

That’s it for now. I need to get a post typed up about Super Tuesday, so look for that in the next day or two, as well as more news.

I am going to start off this post with a rant about a pet peeve of mine: Women who sit at the bar and put their purse in the seat next to them, even though they know it is a popular time of day at a popular bar and every seat will soon be in demand. I can’t tell you how many times I have arrived at Silly Goose happy hour 5:35-5:40ish and there have been three unoccupied seats at the bar – and yet there was nowhere to sit because those three bar stools had purses in them.

It’s inconsiderate of customers who come in after you do.

It’s also rude to the bartender, who has 14 seats at her bar but will only be getting tipped on 11 tabs because of the purse-occupied seats.

There are hooks underneath the bar. Hang your purse there. Or put your purse on the bar. Or put it underneath your seat. Or just don’t bring a purse. Or sit at a table rather than the bar.

If you put your purse in the seat next to you to hold it for a friend who is meeting you in 5 or 10 minutes, no problem. If you put your purse in the seat next to you to hold it for a friend who will be arriving in 45 minutes to an hour? Not cool.

I’m glad my mother raised me to have consideration for others. Too bad not everyone’s mother did. This has always been a minor nuisance, but it seems like it’s really gotten out of hand at Downtown bars lately.

High Cotton Brewery posted photos to Facebook yesterday announcing that they are increasing their brewing capacity, allowing them to get their beer to even more locations. High Cotton’s beers, particularly its flagship ESB, can already be found in many of Downtown’s bars. PRO TIP: You can get High Cotton and other local drafts for $2 at the Silly Goose’s local beer night Tuesdays 7:30 to close. You might not get a seat due to purses, but you’ll get good beer for a good price.

High Cotton had their Drink & Draw event last night, where participants bring their favorite drawing utensil and medium on which to draw. It apparently was a success, because there was a sold-out announcement on Facebook and people begging for the brewery to bring Drink & Draw back for a second time.

The Republican party is sending in the clowns this weekend: John Kasich, Donald Trump, and Ben Carson will be in Memphis in the next two days. Carson’s appearance at Highpoint Church got canceled for security reasons, but he still has another stop. I feel bad grouping Kasich with the other two; he’s a decent fellow. I wouldn’t vote for him in a general election though.

Miss Cordelia’s, the full-service grocery store on Mud Island, is hiring a Produce Manager. The candidate must have one year’s produce experience and submit a resume to assistant manager Erica at Erica@MissCordelias.com. Given my love for fresh produce, this would be a dream job for me, but alas, I chose a career in information technology; I don’t have the experience to qualify for this job.

From 4-6 today, you can pick up a Grizzlies Growler from Madison Growler (inside the Midtown Cash Saver) and win prizes from the Grizz Girls.

Chris Johnson from America’s Idol will play Local Downtown tomorrow night.

That’ll wrap it up for now. I am more than ready for the weekend that lies ahead.

Here’s a sneak preview of the third piece of Mt. Grizzmore, Zach Randolph, to be given away at the Friday, March 4 Grizzlies game at FedExForum. The first two pieces, Tony Allen and Mike Conley, have already been given away, with the Marc Gasol piece yet to come.

If you missed the Olate Dogs performance at halftime at the game against the L.A. Lakers Wednesday, the NBA has a video.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra performs Messiah tonight at the Cannon Center at 7:30.

This is really cool: An ioby fundraiser to help send high school students on college tours. To many high school students, college seems like something scary, something that is beyond their set of options in life. The college tours will make college seem more “real” to these students and hopefully make them realize that it indeed can be one of their options.

From Bleacher Report: Should Butch Jones’s job be on the line if it is found that he helped enable a rapey culture at the University of Tennessee, and that he did indeed call one of his players “a traitor to the team” for helping a woman who said that two other UT football players raped her? Here’s an interesting quote from the article:

Jones has much more incentive to lie in order to protect his job, while Bowles lying in a sworn affidavit would almost certainly bring a perjury charge against him. Because of that, Jones looks horrible in this situation.

As the article points out, this is turning into a high stakes game of he said/she said. One party goes to jail if they are lying; if it’s the other party, they lose a career. I continue to think Tennessee should be kicked out of the SEC (at least for football) if the allegations are found to be true. Let the Vols join the Sun Belt Conference and look forward to a big rivalry game with Troy every Thanksgiving. Better yet, send the Vols to Conference USA…

Memphis Made Brewing Co. out in Cooper-Young has free brewery tours Saturday and Sunday at 4 PM where you can learn about the beer you drink. I have been given the tour and it’s pretty neat.

We have a bum Downtown called Mouthwash because he panhandles money to buy mouthwash at Family Dollar. Why mouthwash? It has a higher alcohol content than the rotgut liquor sold around the corner at CeCe’s. He’s a value drinker. Let’s hope no one tells him about the latest trend in Sweden: Getting drunk off hand sanitizer. Some teens are even mixing hand sanitizer cocktails.

A new allegation has been brought forth in the lawsuit six women have brought against the University of Tennessee. The women claim that there is a campus culture at UT, and in the athletic department and football team in particular, that enables sexual assault. The latest allegation came from UT football player Drae Bowles, claiming that head coach Butch Jones called Bowles “a traitor to the team” after Bowles aided a woman who said that two other UT football players raped her.

Fansided has a list of five candidates to replace Butch Jones after the university fires him. The list is wishful thinking though. Why the hell would Nick Saban leave Alabama to take a job at a school with such a f’d up campus culture? Why would ANYBODY take that job?

I wonder how many female college seniors are crossing UT off their list of prospective schools? If I had a daughter I certainly would not let her go there.

Carbunkle Trumpet recently attended a home game for the Brooklyn Nets as they took on the Memphis Grizzlies. CBT moved to New York City from Memphis several months ago, and having attended Grizzlies home games in Memphis, a “small market,” he was curious to see what a game would look like in a “large market.” The Nets had no mascot, no halftime performance, no Bongo Cam contests, no pyro for home team introductions. I bet there are no dancing Grannies and Grandpas either. I guess New Yorkers take having pro sports teams for granted and the Nets don’t feel the need to make every game an experience. Just goes to show, we have it good here in Memphis.

Want an early taste of Old Dominick Distillery, which will open in the Front Street Chicken District at 301 S. Front? The Memphis Daily News has a photo gallery.

The Orpheum Family Series brings a performance of Moby Dick to the Halloran Center tomorrow evening at 7. This will be a kid-friendly performance and tickets are $15-30.

Jeff Reed returns to the Cannon Center Saturday night at 7:30 for a tribute performance to the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds.

The famous Cerrito Trivia is coming to a new location – The Arcade at Main and G.E. Patterson, every other Thursday beginning March 3. The theme that night will be Seinfeld trivia, with all questions about the hit ’90s TV show as The Arcade transforms into Monk’s Cafe for one night only. This will fill up, so reservations are required. Make reservations here. It’s free to play and there will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Best Team Name.

By the way: Cerrito Trivia will still happen at the Green Beetle that night; Kevin and his radio sidekick CJ will be alternating.

Gus’s is hiring. Apply at the Downtown location on South Front St. Tuesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 2 from 2:30-5:00 PM. Brief sit-down interviews will be conducted. The restaurant is hiring for part-time managers, servers, dishwashers, and kitchen staff. More info here.

Exciting fresh produce news: Downtown’s Bring It Food Hub had a record-breaking fall season, with 241 subscriptions. The way it works is, you sign up here (sign-ups now being accepted for summer 2016) and select a pickup point. There are a variety of pickup points around the city, each with its own dates and times. One of the pickup points is in The Edge, at The Bring It Hub’s headquarters at 694 Madison. Every week a bag of locally-grown fruits, veggies, and other staples that have been locally produced is dropped off for you.

The Hard Rock Cafe is having an Oscar Night viewing party Sunday, February 28 at 6 PM. There will be TVs all over the restaurant showing the Oscars, and attendees can pose for a photo on the red carpet and have a chance to win prizes including local movie passes and merchandise. It’s free to attend, but a donation to Ronald McDonald House would be greatly appreciated. All ages are welcome.

The Memphis Union Mission is seeking a part-time driver to pick up and deliver food donated to the Mission. The days are Tuesday and Thursday. Contact Pastor Randy Daniels at 901-526-8434, ext 1008 or rdaniels@memphisunionmission.org if interested.

It’s the annual “Post to Facebook how awesome Beale Street Music Fest’s lineup is”/”Post to Facebook how much Beale Street Music Fest’s lineup sucks” day, depending on your perspective. Memphis in May announced the lineup for Music Fest this morning. The festival is Friday, April 29-Sunday, May 1 at Tom Lee Park, the first Memphis in May event of the season. It is held in Tom Lee Park by the river with multiple stages, attracting crowds of 40,000-55,000 each day.

Pro tip if you’ve never been to Music Fest and are going this year: Invest in a couple of cheap disposable ponchos that can be carried in your pocket or purse. The weather has a way of being cursed during Music Fest, and there are few years when it does not rain at least once.

One other note: The normal high for Memphis April 29-May 1 is 77. Do not expect 77 during Music Fest. Typical Music Fest weather sees highs of about 65 and lows about 50. Again, there is no other explanation than that the weather is cursed. Also, expect bright, sunny skies with highs of about 83 for the periods April 26-28 and May 2-4.

South Main Trolley Night is this Friday starting at 6 PM, with many shops and galleries open late. It’s a special Oscar-themed Trolley Night, with South Main businesses rolling out the red carpet. If you’re a South Main Association member, there will be a special area for you in The Arcade, the most-filmed building in Memphis, for complimentary appetizers and beverages and a movie trivia contest with a first-place prize of two Malco movie passes. Non-SMA members can join the fun for $10.

Also at Trolley Night will be South Main Sounds Songwriter Night #22 at 550 S. Main, with performances by Andrew Cabigao, Anna Melvin, Kyndle Elizabeth McMahan, Stephen Sciara, Kris Acklen and Tony Manard. Stock & Belle at 387 S. Main will have Turnrow Letterpress Art. Art Village Gallery at 410 S. Main will have an event called Diva Power for a Woman in the White House with actress Garcelle Beauvais.

I plan on being at Trolley Night, headquartering myself at my “home away from home on the south side,” Max’s Sports Bar, although I do plan on venturing out to check out the galleries and probably Songwriter Night. Since I #FeelTheBern, perhaps I better stay out of Art Village Gallery.

The Southern Circuit of Independent Filmmakers Tour comes to the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts tonight with Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning. Tickets are $10. Film starts at 7, 90 minutes long, followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker.

For those who take I-55 southbound to work from Downtown: I noticed traffic counters on the off-ramp onto Mallory and the on-ramp from Third. Water pools really bad under the bridges between Mallory and Third, and I guess TDOT is counting how many people take the detour to avoid the pooling water. (I do.) I wish they would find a way to provide better drainage in that area.

Glad we only had to deal with heavy rain though. My BBQ teammate Duck was down in Louisiana with tornadoes whizzing by. Glad to hear Duck stayed safe.

Lexington, Kentucky’s “Food for Fines” program lets you pay off parking tickets with canned goods. Every 10 cans donated gives you a $15 credit. This supplies local food banks with thousands of cans each year. It would be nice if Memphis would do this for Mid-South Food Bank, but I guess given the state of the budget, the city needs all the ticket revenue it can get.

The Daily Downtowner on Instagram today is not even a person. It’s the “Cry Me a River,” one of the new drinks you can get at Qahwa’s nitrogen bar.

Oh my goodness… “The Wild World of Nextdoor.com” is the cover story for the Memphis Flyer this week. If you follow publisher Bruce V on Twitter, you know he is a big fan of Nextdoor.com. I can’t wait to read this story.

That’s the news for now. Getting a lot done at work today. I will be out at happy hour at the Silly Goose for a well-deserved PBR. Probably I will be back at the Goose for CharveyMac at 10 tonight.

I came across a great website, Make Memphis, whose slogan is “Shepherding Ideas into Action.” Recent posts have featured two people I know personally, and I thought I would share the links.

I first met Mark Akin at a P-Funk concert at the Gibson Lounge in 2003. He was bartending one of the outdoor bars. He told me about the band he played in at the time, and years later I found myself sitting at his bar at the Majestic Grille often. Mark is now the co-owner of Envision Memphis, the gym on the top floor of the Cadre Building. Mark wrote a post for Make Memphis on how a change in attitude can change everything.

Frank Rouse found a way to combine his love for biking with his love for Memphis by becoming a leader in Urban Bicycle Food Ministry. The ministry makes nutritious burritos to hand out to anyone who is hungry, particularly the homeless. The volunteers ride their bikes to get around town quickly and to make personal contact with their audience easy.

Starting March 5, the Cossitt Library at Front and Monroe will be open Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM. There will be no change to the hours for the library the other days of the week. Jamie Griffin has been the library’s manager for about a year, and and has done a great job improving library services. Expect several concerts on the promenade behind the library in the months to come.

Olate Dogs, winners of America’s Got Talent, will perform live during the halftime show of the Grizzlies-Lakers game tonight. Last chance to see Kobe play in person in Memphis.